UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES-: Unemployment Figures

AS the March unemployment
figures came out last week (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS), the big question was
whether they had improved enough to show a leveling off in the
recession. To some economists, both amateur and professional, they had
not. The normal seasonal increase in employment between February and
March is 500,000 and the normal decline in unemployment about 200,000.
By contrast, the March figures showed only a 323,000 increase in
employment while unemployment actually edged up another 25,000. To some
thoughtful experts, an equally important question is: Should the
employment figures be used for hairline appraisals of the U.S....